Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Snow clearing

   / Snow clearing #1  

amashinga

Bronze Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2008
Messages
78
I am not that familiar with this white stuff that falls out of the sky on occasion. Saturday night we saw about 16", and I had my first experience in clearing snow with my little 1100. I got er done but I am sure there is an easier way. I was using a backblade, both pulling and pushing in reverse at times.

One of the issues I had was that the snow does not slide off the blade. I have a sheet of uhmw at home, should I look at facing the blade with some ?

I also found I was digging in at times. Guide wheels, or some other solution ?.

Lastly, I do have a FEL, I am not sure if that may be a better solution.

Thanks
Bruce
 
   / Snow clearing #2  
Hi Bruce,

I've got a 8' Snowblower, but with the first couple
of snows I tilt my blower so the blade is down not
the feet. I then pull the blower and then blow the
pile at the end of the pull. This sets up a surface
of coated snow that will harden and will be easier
to blow later. This way I do not loose all of my gravel
when I blow. Hope this helps, with the blade I would
drop my blade and pull it and pile up the snow at
the end of the run to the side.
 
   / Snow clearing #3  
I just picked up an 1100. It came with a front mount snow plow but I havent had a chance to use it yet.
 
   / Snow clearing #4  
I also found I was digging in at times. Guide wheels, or some other solution ?.

Lastly, I do have a FEL, I am not sure if that may be a better solution.

Thanks
Bruce

Good Evenin Bruce,
A lot of the guys up this way weld a length of pipe on the bottom of their plow wear blade. This helps in a few different situations. In the early snow storms that we get when the ground is not frozen yet, it prevents the drives from gettin plowed up. If you do any plowing on your lawn, it saves that also ! The FEL is really not a great snow removal tool, in my avitar Im using mine to clear out my Uncle Daves barn, but a plow is much better. And of course, a snowblower is even better ! ;)

John Deere has a nice setup with the Imatch setup, remove the FEL and clip on your front plow blade !
 
   / Snow clearing #5  
I am not that familiar with this white stuff that falls out of the sky on occasion. Saturday night we saw about 16", and I had my first experience in clearing snow with my little 1100. I got er done but I am sure there is an easier way. I was using a backblade, both pulling and pushing in reverse at times.

One of the issues I had was that the snow does not slide off the blade. I have a sheet of uhmw at home, should I look at facing the blade with some ?

I also found I was digging in at times. Guide wheels, or some other solution ?.

Lastly, I do have a FEL, I am not sure if that may be a better solution.

Thanks
Bruce
Where is this 16'' of white stuff ?
What is your little 1100?
 
   / Snow clearing #6  
Practice, then more practice. Up our way every snowfall can be different. Wet, dry, packed base, ice base, gravel base or grass base. Each condition calls for a different approach. This is the year I was going to use my snowblower after not bothering to hook it up for the past three years. I got a nice packed base (it was too cold for it to soften and become an ice base) built up, then installed the blower. Ten minutes later the PTO shaft let loose at a universal joint. By the time I could get the parts (one of which was back-ordered at every TSC in southern Ontario) and rebuild everything two weeks had passed. During this time I was doing minimal clearing with my trusty back-blade and wound up with a 6" base on a very narrow driveway.
Woke up this morning (Monday)and the temp was +9C (Sat morning it was -30C) and I had to get out to the highway in the Dodge thru 6" of slush on a twisty hilly driveway. Then I had to get to the woodshed out back with the tractor. Then I spent 6 hours removing my "base" of slush on a combination "A" gravel and crushed stone driveway. Then I had to push back the sides before they froze into ice mountains. (Saturday I coulda just blown them uphill into the bushes or downhill onto the lake, had the blower been back together)
Some places I drag the BB and others I swing it around and push it in reverse. Some spots I use the blade "backwards" so it slides over the grass instead of digging in.
The side ways tilt of your 3pth, the length of your upper bar and the angle of your blade all make a difference in your result.
Only practice (or a paved driveway) will make it easier
 
   / Snow clearing #7  
Hi Bruce,

I clear the snow from a 1/4 mile of black top, and 300 ' of gravel (crushed asphalt) using a BX22 and a back blade. To clear the black top, I drive forward with the blade facing forward so it scrapes all the way down to the road. For the driveway I drive forward with the blade facing backwards, so it doesn't dig into the gravel. I'm afraid of pushing the blade because of the damage that can be done to the hitch (it was designed to pull).

Two things help.. Turning the blade to dump the snow off one side or the other. And speed.. If you go slow, the snow will stick and pile up and spill off both sides. If you drop the blade while moving and keep a pretty good pace, it will throw the snow off to the side fairly well.

A mod I did to the 3pt was to replace the fixed side link with a chain of the same length to allow the blade to follow the contour (pivot) of the ground. This helps prevent digging in when the ground in uneven.

Jeff
 
   / Snow clearing #8  
What is an 1100? An old Ford 1100? Where are you located? The type of snow makes a lot of difference. I usually use the FEL if I don't have a plow. Hold it at a slight angle to what you're plowing.

Andy
 
   / Snow clearing
  • Thread Starter
#9  
Pacific NW. Yeah, its a ford 1100

Tks
 
   / Snow clearing #10  
I've been using a loader for snow for 3+ years. My old one had a giant snow bucket on it, and my new one has a 6' 1+ yd QA bucket. I also have a heavy 6' box-blade on the back for cleanup.

So far this year, we've had a couple 6" snowfalls, a couple 3-4" snowfalls, and a 12" snowfall. It takes me about 25-40 min to clear about 5000 sq ft of asphalt (drive + parking area).

We are supposed to get as much as 12" again tonight and tomorrow...

I Love using the loader! Seat-time is definitely quality time!

Lunk
 
 
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